Strike plate template



Dec. 2, 1958 R. E. LUCIA 2,862,302

STRIKE PLATE TEMPLATE:

Filed Feb. 8, 195e ROBERT@ Luc/'H BYMQM HTTORNEK United States Patent Oihce 2,862,302 Patented Dec. 2, 1958 STRIKE PLATE TEMPLATE Robert E. Lucia, West Hartford, Conn., assignor to The American Hardware Corporation, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application February 8, 1956, Serial No. 564,237 6 Claims. (Cl. 33-197) This invention relates to a strike plate template which will greatly facilitate the task of installing the strike plate of a lockset on a door frame and which will obviate the difficulties heretofore encountered in accurately positioning the strike plate and in cutting the mortise therefor.

Since it is not usually possible to determine if a strike plate has been properly positioned on the door frame before the mortise is cut and the strike plate actually installed, it is imperative that the job be done right on the first attempt. If the strike plate is too close to the door stop, even by a very small amount, the latch bolt will not enter the opening therein, and if located too far from the stop, an excessive amount of play will result between the latch bolt and the edge of the opening in the strike plate and cause the door to rattle. Once the strike plate has been installed, it is a diicult and time consuming job to change its position if an error has been made as it becomes necessary to enlarge the mortise on one side or the other and this results in an unsightly job.

Metal strike plate templates have heretofore been provided in an attempt to alleviate the installation diiculties, but little or nothing has been accomplished with these devices since they can only be secured to the door frame with wood screws and, if it is found that an error has been 'made, it is very difficult to change the position of the template because of the screw holes already in the frame.

The diiliculties above mentioned have been further increased by the provision of a metal box on the rear face of most strike plates. This box surrounds the opening in the strike plate and is relatively deep so that it is necessary to cut a deep recess in the door frame, Within the confines of the strike plate mortise, to accommodate the box. Y In addition, the box is usually permanently fastened to the strike plate, thereby making it diicult to mark the outline of the box on the door frame.

The primary object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a strike plate template which may be attached to a door frame without the use of screws or other such fastening means, and which is made of a substantially stiff material so that the door may be closed against said template to determine if the strike plate will be accurately located with respect to the latch bolt before the door frame is drilled or mortis'ed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a strike plate template which, after being applied to the door frame in proper position, provides a guide for cutting the mortises for the actual strike plate and for the box thereon and for locating the holes for the screws which are used to secure the strike plate to the door frame.

Further objects and advantages of the instant invention will be more clearly understood from the following description and from the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is an isometric view of a strike plate template embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional end view of said template, on a greatly enlarged scale, illustrating the construction thereof.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the actual metal strike plate for which the said template is intended.

Fig. 4 is .a side view of said strike plate showing the box thereon. Y

Fig. 5 is an elevational View of the edge of a door illustrating a latch bolt thereon Iand the preferred method of marking the strike plate template to indicate its position with respect to the latch bolt.

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a portion of the door frame illustrating the strike plate template in proper position thereon.

ln the drawing, I have chosen to illustrate only one form of strike plate template embodying my invention, but it will be understood that there are as many variations of the template as there are strike plates and that I do not wish to limit the scope of this invention to the form shown.

As shown in the drawing, the numeral S indicates a strike plate template which is made of thin, stijf, sheet material 6 having a coating of a suitable pressure sensitive adhesive 7 on one side thereof Which is normally protected by a strippable backing sheet 8 of waxed paper or the like. The template material is preferably stiff paper or cardboard because it is very inexpensive and may easily be cut with a chisel or a knife. The template is die-cut from the paper or cardboard stock to the exact shape and dimensions of the actual strike plate 9, and in the form shown, includes a rectangular body portion 10 having a centrally disposed tongue 11 extending from a side edge thereof; said body portion and tongue being the exact size and shape of the body portion 12 and the tongue 13 of the actual metal strike plate 9. The body portion 10 of the template has a rectangular opening 14 therethrough that coincides exactly with the opening 15 in the actual strike plate 9 which receives the latch bolt of the lockset. The front edge 14-a of the opening 14 has a centrally located notch 16 therein for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

-Printed upon the front of the template are pairs of intersecting center lines which indicate the centers 17-17 of the screw holes 18-18 in the actual strike plate 9, and horizontal lines 19-19 which indicate the horizontal center line of the template.

When the actual strike plate 9 has aixed thereto a conventional box 20 which projects rearwardly from the back of the plate and surrounds the opening 15 as indicated by thedotted line 20-a in Fig. 3, the front of the template is'provided with a line 21 that is printed thereon to define the extremities of the box 20 and its position With respect to the actual strike plate 9. The rectangle defined by the line 21 is slightly larger than the box 20,

and the notation cut out for box is preferably printed on the front of the template adjacent the horizontal por* tions of the said rectangle.

Referring now to Fig. 5, I have shown a door 22 in which the latch unit 23 of a conventional lockset has been installed.. The latch unit includes a latch bolt 24, having a at face 24-a, 'and an auxiliary bolt 25 which controls the deadlocking mechanism of the latch unit and projects therefrom adjacent the flat face 24-a of the latch bolt. The door is mounted in a door frame 26, shown in Fig. 6, .and closes against a stop 27 on the frame. The stop 27 is usually positioned so that, when the door is closed, its inner face 22-a is disposed ilush with the inner edge 26-a of the frame.

The strike plate template 5 may be located on the frame 26 by any one of several methods, but when the relationship of the door and frame is as above described, the method illustrated and hereinafter described is believed the best.

The back of the template 5 is first placed against the e'dge 22-b of the door, in the position shown in Fig. 5, wherein thelatch bolt 24 and the auxiliary bolt 25 project through the opening 14 therein. The edge 14-a of said openingis placed against the at face 24-a ofthe latchbolt, and it will be noted that the notch 16 therein accommodates the auxiliary bolt and assists in locating the template centrally with respect to the horizontal center line of the latch unit. The notch 16 is preferably provided in each template to permit the use thereof with latch units'having auxiliary bolts, but said notch willl not interfere with the use of the template when the auxiliary bolt is not present. The template then occupies the proper position of the actual strike plate with respect to the latch'bolt when the door is closed.

The tongue 11 of the template, which extends beyond the inner face of the door, is lthen marked with pencil lines, as at 25E-'28, to indicate the inner face of the door, after which the template may be removed and the protective backing sheet 8 stripped from the adhesive coated side thereof.

Since it is known that the edge 26-a of the frame is flush with the inner face of the door when the door is closed, this edge is used as a reference point for locating the template on the frame. The pencil marks 28-28 on the tongue of the template are then aligned with the edge 26-a of the frame and the center lines 19--19 are aligned with the horizontal center line 29 of the bolt which has ybeen previously marked on the frame. The template is then placed on the frame in the position shown in Fig. 6, and it will adhere thereto by reason of the adhesive coating 7.

Sincethe template is very thin, the door may then be closed to determine if the latch bolt will properly enter the opening 14 therein. The edge 14-a of the said opening is located exactly where the edge -a of tne opening in the actual strike plate will be located, and if the latch bolt coacts properly with the template, it is then known that it will also coact properly with the strike plate 9. If an error has been made, it is a simple matter to remove the template from the frame and adjust it one way or the other until the proper position is obtained.

It will thus be understood that my improved template can be secured to the'frame before it-is cut or drilled in order to test its location and thereby determine if the actual strike plate will be located in the proper position.

After the template is properly located on the frame, a chisel or knife is run along the edges thereof to cut the outline of the mortise for the strike plate into the frame. The screw holes can lbe located on the frame by pushing a sharp pointed instrument through the center points 17-17 indicated by the intersecting center lines. The outline of the mortise for the box is then cut into the frame by cutting through the template on the line 21. Thetemplate may then be removed from the frame and discarded, and the mortises cut for the strike plate and the box.

Iclaim:

1. A template for use in installing astrike plate having an opening therein for a latch bolt, said template conforming to the shape of said strike plate and being made ofithin sheet vmaterial having a coating of adhesive on one side thereof and adapted to lit in the space between the edge of a door and its frame, said template having an opening therethrough adapted to receive said latch bolt, and said opening having an edge portion corresponding exactly to the edge portion of the opening in the strike plate which is engaged by said latch bolt.

2. A template for use in installing a strike plate having an opening therein for a latch bolt, said template conforming to the shape of said strike plate and being made of thin sheet material adapted to it between the edge of a door and its frame, said template having an opening therethrough adapted to receive said latch bolt, said opening having an edge portion corresponding to the edge portion of the opening in said strike plate which is engaged by said latch bolt, means on said template indicating the center lines of the screws used to secure said strike plate to the door frame, and an adhesive coating on the back of said template.

3. A template yas set forth in claim 2 wherein the said edgeportion contains a notch adapted to accommodate the auxiliary -bolt of a latch unit.

4. A template for use in installing a strike plate having an opening therein for a latch bolt, said template conforming to the shape of said strike plate and being made of thin penetrable sheet material adapted to t between the edge of a door and its frame, said template having `an opening therethrough conforming to the opening in the strike plate, indicia on said template denoting the center llines of the screws used to secure said strike plate to the door frame, and an adhesive coating on the back lof said template.

5. A template for use in installing a strike plate having an opening therein for a latch bolt and a box extending from the rear side thereof and surrounding said opening, said template conforming to the shape of said strike plate and being made of thin sheet material adapted to t between the edge of a doorand its frame, said template having an opening therethrough adapted to receive said latch bolt, said opening having an edge portion corresponding to the edge portion of the opening in said strike plate which is engaged by said latch bolt, means on said template denoting the position of said box with respect to said strike plate, and an adhesive coating on the back of said template.

6. A template for use in installing a strike plate having Ian opening for a latch bolt and a box extending from the back thereof and surrounding said opening, said template being made of thin paper material having a coating of pressure sensitive adhesive on one side thereof and conforming to the shape of the strike plate, said template having anopening therein corresponding to the opening in the strike plate, and a line printed on said template around said opening indicating the position of the Ibox relatively to the opening in said strike plate.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 292,463 Bassett Ian. 29, 1884 648,471 Voight May 1, 1900 664,910 Voight Ian. 1, 1901 2,323,145 Mabry June 29, 1943 

